MVN - Most Valuable Network

The Blade article mentions that they could leave the team as early as July 22nd. I’m not sure what the variable is preventing the date from being more certain, but they will certainly leave before their first scrimmage on August 1st. Olympic play lasts until the August 23rd, and that means the Hens could be without their starting third baseman and their closer for as much as a month.

That hurts the depth of their bullpen and takes away a player who not only has been one of their best hitters and a good third baseman, but also is their only good hitter who isn’t likely to be called up to the Tigers. Joyce and Larish come and go, but Hessman has been a constant in the Hen lineup. So let’s talk about the current roster makeup and think about how each player’s absence is likely to affect the team.

Blaine Neal has been a very pleasant surprise for the Hens. He was signed after the team’s open tryout in Lakeland. Before we even really knew who he was, he was the team’s closer and eventually an All Star who had struck out 36 and allowed just 8 runs in 32.1 innings of work. He’s not pitching quite as well as his 1.39 ERA may indicate, but for a guy who was just a few months ago sharing a tryout mound with players who couldn’t crack 80 mph, he’s doing very well.

With him gone, Larry Parrish will obviously need to rearrange the bullpen a bit. He’s set up pretty well for that at the moment. The Hens are getting some pretty good innings from each of Brian Rogers, Ian Ostlund, Francisco Cruceta and Clay Rapada. It seems like they could bump Cruceta into that closer’s role without taking too terrible a hit to the bullpen. I’d really like to see what Casey Fien could do in Triple A if they decide they need a live arm to fill the role Cruceta had been holding for the Hens.

Mike Hessman is going to be a little harder to replace. Positionally, they’re set up to fill in without too much trouble. Without even making a move, as long as Fernando Seguignol is there to man first base they can have Erick Almonte or Max Leon play third and then the other guy and Mike Hollimon and Derek Wathan can fill out the infield. Of course, it should be noted the infield defense is likely to take a dip without Hessman’s glove and accurate arm at the hot corner.

Still, the bigger problem comes in the lineup. Replacing Hessman with Leon or Wathan in the lineup creates a pretty big hole. You are replacing a middle-of-the-order hitter with a guy whose season home run total might not match Hessman’s best game.

The Hens will be a little better prepared to handle the loss if and when Jeff Larish gets back, but he’ll really be replacing whoever was at designated hitter rather than the weaker bat who will be replacing Hessman. The lineup is still going to look very different for the Hens in the very near future. It will be interesting to see if they can hang with Louisville with their biggest power hitter and closer in China.